Garage door mechanism



Sept-10, 1963 P. CONGELLIERE 3,103,043

GARAGE DOOR MECHANISM Filed March 28, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 10,1963 P. CONGELLIERE GARAGE DOOR MECHANISM Filed March 28, 1960 UnitedStates Patent O "il .t

3,103,042; GARAGE DOQR MECHANTSM Peter Congeiliere, 3341 W. 116th St.,Inglewood, Calif. Filed l'vlar. 28, 1960, Ser. No. 13,600 6 Claims.(ill. 2li- 16) This invention relates to a closure assembly for thedoorway of a building, which assembly includes a counterbalanced doormovable to `an overhead open position. While various features of theinvention are widely applicable to door installations in general, theinvention has been initially embodied in a door assembly for ahomeowners garage. This embodiment has been selected for the presentdisclosure and will provide adequate guidance for other speciiic use-sof the basic invention.

A garage door suc-h as employed in the selected embodiment of theinvention is movable upwardly and rearwardly from a forward verticalclosed position to an overhead horizontal open position. For thispurpose, the door is mounted by side arms or by equivalent linkages toswing about a pivot axis that is parallel with the door and is spacedsubstantially inward from the doorway. Counterbalancing means isrequired to facilitate the opening movement of such :a door, since thecenter of gravity of the door rises a substantial distance in theopening movement. Typically, such a counterbalancng means comprises apair lof long springs on opposite sides of the gara-ge connected to therespective mounting arms of the door.

Since the two counterbalancing springs oppose the closing movement ofthe door, the stressing of the springs rises to a maximum as the doorapproaches its fully closed position. Consequently, no special care isrequired to close the door in a gentle and non-damaging manner.

On the other hand, since the counterbalancing springs urge the door toopen and since the mounting arms swing to `favorable angles relative tothe spring as the door moves towards its fully open position, it isdi-ilicult to keep the door from reaching its limit opening positionwithout making a heavy damaging impact against the building structure.In fact, the counterbalancing springs are commonly connected to the doorcloser than desirable to the pivot axis of the door to minimize thejolting impact at the end of the door-closing movement. If the impactwere not objectionable, much better counterbalancing action could beachieved by shifting the points of connection of the springs to pointsfurther out from the pivot axis of the door.

The primary object of the present invention is to meet this problem byproviding energy-absorbing means to de- `celerate the closing movementof the door. The provision of the energy-absorbing means not only avoidsthe jolting impact at the end of the door opening movement but, also,permits the counterbalancing springs to be connected to points furtherout from the pivot aXis of the door for improved counterbalancingaction. In fact, a feature of the preferred practice of the invention isthat the point of connection of the counterbalancing spring with thedoor is spaced so far from the pivot axis of the door that thecounterbalancing springs actually bias the door towards its openposition. This arrangement makes it possible to use a remotelycontrolled latch to hold the door at its normal closed position so thatwhen the latch is released `by remote control, the `door is actuatedautomatically by the counterbalancing springs to move from its closedposition to its open position.

One problem to be considered in the construction of such anenergy-absorbing means is that, while it must oppose the force of thecounterbalancing springs, it must not interfere to any serious degreewith the counterbalancing function of the two springs. If theenergy-absorberal direction of the door movement.

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ing means were designed to store all of the energy that it absorbs, thestored force would be subsequently released in opposition to thecounterbalancing springs and could defeat the purpose of thecounterbalancing springs. On the other hand, if the energy-absorbingmeans is desivned to oppose the counterbalancing springs primarily bydissipating energy, its effectiveness should be confined to the singledirection of the door opening movement lest it subsequently interferewith the closing :movement of the door.

,The invention solves this problem by using spring means to store only arelatively small proportion of the energy that is to be absorbed, thestored energy being suflicient only to restore the mechanism of theenergyabsorbing means to its starting position when the door is closed.The invention'further employs dashpot means in tandem or series with theenergy-storing spring means to dissipate the major portion of the energythat must 4be transferred to decelerate the opening door.

In addition, the invention further meets the problem by incorporating aby-pass in the dashpot means controlled by a check valve to make thedashpot effective only in the one direction of the door openingmovement. A feature of the present embodiment of the invention is theuse of a piston that ilexes to serve both as a by-pass and as a checkvalve. Thus, the piston makes it unnecessary to provide additionalstructure for the by-pass and check Valve.

Another problem to be considered is to provide some simple, inexpensivebut efficient arrangement for connecting the energy-absorbing means tothe building structure in such manner that it operates only over aterminal portion of the door opening movement. This problem iscomplicated by the fact that the whole door is translated bodily over arelatively long curved path between its two limit positions.

In the present embodiment of the invention, this last problem is solvedby an arrangement of cables which directly connects the energy-absorbingmeans to the building structure but with 'ample provision for lostmotion. Two cables are used, one cable being anchored at bpth ends tothe building and extending overhead in the gen- The second cable isconnected at one of its ends to an energy-absorbing means carried `bythe door and is connected at its other end to a ring that looselyengages the first cable. Throughout the major portion of the openingmovement of the door, the ring merely slides along the first cable toprovide the required lost motion for delaying the operation of theenergy-absorbing means. As the door approaches its limit open position,the ring reaches a point on the rst cable where the ring is effective topull both of the cables taut for the delayed operation of theenergy-absorbing means. i A

The features and advantages of the invention may be understood 'from thefollowing detailed description, together with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, which are to ybe regarded as merely illustrative:

FIG. 1 is `a perspective view from the interior of a garage showing adoor arrangement embodying the present invention, the door being shownin its `forward lower vertical closed position;

FIG. 2 isa greatly enlarged `fragment of FIG. 1 showing how the secondcable that is carried by the door is connected to a ring that slides onthe first cable, this View also showing a remotely controlled latchmechanism to keep the door closed;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional View on a reduced scale of the latchmechanism, the section Ibeing taken as indicated by the line 3 3 of FIG.2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the energy-absorbing means mounted on thedoor;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the door in its fully openposition; and

FIG. 6` is a wiring diagram of a circuit for controlling the latchmechanism. f

FIGS. l and 5 show a building structure or garage, generally designated10, having a doorway 12 which is normally closed by a door 14. FIG. 1shows the door in its forward vertical closed position, and FIG. 5 showsthe door in its alternate rearward upper horizontal position. The doorl14 is mounted at its opposite sides on corresponding mounting arms 15.Eachof the mounting arms 15 comprises a pair of angular bars -16 whichare xedly connected to a lsleeve or bearing member 18 on a correspondingiixed pivot 20. ln the oonstnuction shown, each fixed pivot 20 ismounted on ia base member 22 which is i'ixedly attached to the buildingstructure. This yarrangement permits the door to swing between the twolimit positions showvn in FIGS. l :and 5.

Since the center of gravity of the door 14 is elevated by a distanceapproximating one-half the vertical dimension of the doorway, suitablemeans is provided to counterbalance the weight :of the door. ofrelatively long conventional countenbalancing springs 24 is employedyfor this purpose. One end of each counterbalancing spring 24 issuitably connected to the building structure as indicated at 25, and theother end is connected to a tting '26 that is clamped onto one of theangular bars 16 of the corresponding mounting arm. In this instance,each of the fittings 26 is spaced further than usual trom thecorresponding fixed pivot 20 not merely to improve the countenbalancingaction, but to go yfurther and convert the counterbalancing springs intosprings for exerting all lthe `force required to open the door. Such adesirable spacing of the fitting lfrom the door axis is permittedbecause the invention provides for automatic deceleration of the door atthe end of its opening movement.

'Ihe door may be normally latched at its closed position by themechanism shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 3, alatching plunger 28 is slidingly mounted in a bore 3d in a metal block32 that is itixedly mounted on the upper edge of the door. In theconstruction shown, the metal block 52 has a pair of base flanges 34 foranchorage to the door by suitable screws 35. The latch plunger 28 isurged upward by a spring 36 cin the bore 30, and normally a shoulder 38'of the plunger abuts the edge of a stop plate 40 that is mounted on themetal block 32 by suitable screws V42.

For cooperation with the latch plunger 2S, a latch mechanisml generallydesignated M is mounted on the building structure above the dooropening, and this latch mechanism is adapted tor electrical actuationunder remote control. The latch mechanism is a well-known deviceavailable in commerce.

The latch mechanism M, 'which is enclosed in a housing 44, includes: anangular latch dog 45 mounted on a fixed pivot y4X6; a latch ringer 48that lis mounted on the latch 'dog by a pivot 50 and is normallypositioned against a stop pin 52' on the latch dog; a latch arm 54mounted on a pivot 55; and a solenoid `56 positioned immediately abovethe latch arm 54 to raise the latch arm Ifrom its normal lower latchingposition to an upper release position. When the solenoid 56 Lislde-energized with the latch arm 54 in its lower position shown in FdG.3, the latch arm Acooperates with the latch finger 4S to prevent upwardmovement of the latch dog 45. Consequently, if the ldoor is in itsclosed position shown in FIG. 3, the latch dog 45 engages the side ofthe latch plunger 28 to lock the door.

If the solenoid `56 is energized, While the door is closed, theconsequent swinging of the latch arm 54 to its upper release positionfrees the latch fdog y45 and the latch dog will yield to pressureexerted laterally by the latch plunger In this instance, a pair 28.Thus, if opening force is applied to the closed door by thecounterbalancing springs while the solenoid is energized, the latch dogwill yield to the pressure of the plunger l2li and swing to its releaseposition to permit the door to open.

The door may be closed and latched without energization of the solenoidsince the latch plunger 2S has an inclined cam face 158 on its upperend. When the door in its closing movement approaches the latchmechanism M while the solenoid is de-enengized, the lower edge of thelatch. mechanism housing 44 cams the latch plunger 2S downward againstthe opposition of the spring 36. The looking latch dog 45 keeps theplunger I2S retracted until the plunger travels to the fully closedposition of the door, whereupon the spring 36 shifts the plunger upwardto its normal latching position shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 shows how a control circuit may be providedy ond outdoor switchy68, provided with a suitable lkey operated lock (not shown), may beconnected in parallel with the switch y65 as indicated by the dottedlines 70 and, if desired, a third switch 72 inside an adjacent dwellin'gmay also be connected in parallel with the switch 6-5 as indicated bythe dotted lines 74.

The energy-absorbing means of the present embodiment of the inventioncomprises a dashpot means, generally designated 75, and an energystoring means in the rform of a coiled spring 76. The Idashpot means 75comprises a dashpot cylinder 718 that is tixedly mounted on the door,and a piston assembly which includes a piston, fgelerally designated180, and an upwardly extending piston ro '82.

The `dashpot cylinder 78- is mounted on the inner face of the door 14 bya pair of brackets 34 which are secured to the door by suitable screwsS5. The upper end of l the dashpot cylinder '7S is closed by ascrew-threaded cap 86 which is centrally lapertured to mount a suitablesealing means 28 that slidingly embraces the'piston rod 82. The cylindercap 6 is further provided with a suitably dimensioned dashpot oriiice90.

The piston 8) comprises a centrally apertured cupshaped member 92 ofresilient rubber-like material which is clamped onto the piston rod by apair of washers 94, y

nected to the lower end of the piston rod 52, and the 'lower end of thespring is connected to the ldoor by means of a bracket 98. The bracket93 is a simple angular member that is mounted on the door by suitablescrews lili), the bracket being equipped with a suitable fitting lit-2for hook engagement by the spring 76.

Delayed actuation 1oi the piston rod S21-is accomplished by a iirstcable 1014 in cooperation with a second cable 105. The Airst cable 1tl4extends in the general direction of the `arcuate movement of the upperend of the door 14. ln the construction shown, one end of the cable 104is connected by an eye screw 186 to the building structure immediatelyabove the doorway 1?., and the other end is connected by an eye screw108 to the garage ceiling. When the door is closed,` the lfirst cable104 hangs in la somewhat slack manner as indicated in FIG. l.

The second cable N5 is connected at its upper end to :a ring 110 that isslidingly mounted on the rst cable 104. The lower end of the secondcable is connected to the upper end of the piston rod 82 in the mannerindicated in FIG. 4.

Preferably, suitable guide means is provided on the upper end of thedoor 14 to "guide and route the second cable 105 rom the ring 110 to theupper end of the piston rod 82. As best shown in FIG. 2, such a meansmay comprise a circumferentially grooved sheave 112 mounted by means ofa pivot pin 113 between the two arms of a bracket 114. In theconstruction shown, the bracket 114 has an angular base 115 that :issecured to the door by suitable screws 116. A cross pin 118 mountedbetween the two arms of the bracket 114 is positioned suiiicient-lyclose to the periphery of the sheave 112 to serve as means to confinethe cable 105 in engagement Iwith the sheave 112 at all times.

T-he manner in which the invention operates for its purpose may .bereadily understood `from the foregoing description. At the nonmallyclosed position of the door, shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, the twocountenbalancing springs 24 on the opposite sides of the door arestressed in tension to their maximum length. The piston 80 is retractedto the lower end of the dashpot cylinder 78 as shown in FIG. 4, and theassociated energy-storing spring 76 is relaxed. The tirst cable 104 isslack `and the ring 110 that is connected to the second cable 105 isnear the forward end of the cable 104. The door is llocked in its closedposition by engagement of the latch plunger 28 with the latch dog 45 asshown in FIG. 3.

To open the door, the solenoid 56 is energized by any one of the threeswitches 65, 68 or 72, whereupon the counterbalancing springs swing thedoor upward towards its open position. As the two mounting arms 15 onthe two sides of the door swing upward, they pass through a range ofangles relative to the counterbalancing springs 24 that increase thelength of the mounting aims applied by the springs and thus facilitatethe upward movement of the door. With the counterbalancing springs 24connected to the mounting arms at points more distant than usual fromthe pivot axis of the door, the counterbalancing springs are highlyeiective to accelerate the door `for rapid opening operation. During theinitial )and major portion of the opening movement of the door, thecable 105 merely drags the ring 110 along the slack cable 104.

As the door approaches its fully open position, the ring 110 reaches aposition on the cable 104 to cause the two cables to be pulled taut inthe manner shown in FIG. 5. Consequently, the linal opening movement ofthe door causes the cable 105 to pull the piston rod 82 upward againstthe resistance of the spring 76 and against the resistance ofdisplacement ow of the air out of the dashpot cylinder 78 through thedashpot orifice 90. The compression of the air in the dashpot cylinderby the piston absorbs energy which is dissipated by displacement flowthrough the orice 90 with a desirable retarding or cushioning eiect forrapidly decelerating the door. The storage of energy in the spring 76 bythe elastic elongation of the spring has a :Further deceleration effect.Consequently, the door opens with only a gentle impact against thebuilding structure.

After the door is fully open, a residual quantity or" ai-r is trappedunder pressure in the upper end of the dashpot cylinder 75 but theenergy that is stored in this manner is dissipated immediately by escapeof the air through the dashpot orifice 90. Thereafter only the energyabsorbed by the spring 76 is stored in the fully :open position of thedoor.

When the door is subsequently closed by manual force, the initialclosing movement of the door is boosted by the tension `of the spring76. The primary purpose of storing energy in the spring 76, however, isto retract the piston 80 as permitted by the two cables 104 and 1015 asthe door returns to its closed position. The downward retraction of thepiston 80 tends to create a vacuum in the cylinder 78 above the pistouand, of course, such a vacuum retards the retraction of the piston bythe spring 76. Rapid return of the piston 80 is desirable for promptrestoration of the dashpot to its starting state in the event that thedoor is opened immediately after it is closed.

While the preferred practice of the invention has been described inwhich the counterbalancing springs are connected to the doo-r at arelatively great distance from the door to provide all of the Aforcerequired for opening the door, it is to beunderstood that the points ofconnection may be closer to the door axis so that the counterbalancingsprings function in the conventional manner. In such an arrangement, thedoor is not opening tautomatically by the countenbalancing springs inresponse to unlatching of the door. Improved counterbalancing action isachieved, however, by shifting the points of connection of thecounterbalancing springs further than usual away from the axis of thedoor movement.

A feature of the invention is that the rubber-like cup shaped member 92of the piston readily yields to the pressure differential created by :avacuum in the cylinder 78. The cylindrical skirt of the piston yields byflexing radially inward from the surrounding wall of the `cylinder toopen up a by-pass passage for the iiow of' atmospheric air into thecylinder. It is lapparent that in this manner the cup shaped mem-ber 92not only serves as means for by-passing the dashpot oriiice for theadmission of air into :the cylinder 78 but, also, serves in effect as acheck valve to prevent reverse flow, ie., outward flow of air past thepiston.

The energy-absorbing means maybe quickly and easily installed withoutrequiring special skill or special tools. It is a simple matter to mountthe dashpot cylinder '73 on thev door by means of the two brackets 84,and it is equally simple to mount the bracket 98 on the door forAanchorage of the lower end of the energy-storing spring '76. It is anexceedingly simple matter to ycomplete the installation by anchoring thetwo ends of the cable 104 to the garage structure. After theinstallation is completed, the point of connection of the twocounterbalancing springs 24 to the two mounting arms 15 may be shiftedoutward from the usual locations to improve the counterbalancing action,as heretofore explained.

My description in :specific detail of the selected ernbodiment of theinvention will suggest various changes, substitutions and otherdepartures from my disclosure within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

I claim-z y1. A closure assembly rfor a doorway of a building structure,comprising: a door for said doorway mounted on the building structure tomove between a closed position and an open position; spring meansconnecting said door and the structure of the building to urge the doorfrom its closed position lto its open position; energy-afbsorbing meansmounted on said door; a rst cablelike member anchored at its oppositeends to spaced points on the building structure; anda second cable-likemember lconnected at one of fits ends to the :energy-absorbing means andslidingly connected at its other end to the irst cable-like member,whereby said `one end of said second cableelike member moves along saidfirst cablelike member during an initial major portion of the dooropening movement and both of the cable-like members :are pulled taut asthe door approaches its: limit open position with consequent operationof said energy-absorbing means to decelerate the door.

.2. A combination as set *forth in claim 1 in which said t tion of thedoor opening movement and both of the cable` like members `are pulledtaut as the door approaches its limit open position 'with consequentoperation of said energy-absorbing means to decelerate the door.

4. A closure assembly for a doorway of a building structure, comprising:a door for said doorway mounted on the building .structure lto movebetween a closed position and an open position; iirst spring meansconnect-ing lsaid door and the structure of the building to urge thedoor from its closed position to its open position; -a dashpotcomprising a first dashpot member iixedly mounted in upright position onthe inner face of the door and :a coloperatingsecond dashpot member insliding engagement with the irst member, one of said two members being acylinder and the other of said two members being a piston; second springmeans connecting said second dashpot member lwith the door Ito urge thesecond member to a position for starting the d-ashpot opera-tion; :a rstelongated ilexible member extending in the general direction of travelof the upper end of the door, said exible mem# ber being anchored at itsopposite ends to the building structure; and -a second elongatedflexible member having one end movably connected to said first exiblemember to shift along the first flexible member and having its other endconnected t-o said second dashpot member for operation thereof and forstressing of said second spring means as the door approaches its limitopen position.

5. A combination as set forth in claim 4 which includes guide means onthe upper end of the door to fronte said second exible member to saidsecond dashpot member.

6. A door-closing assembly for a doorway of a building structure,comprising: a door for said doorway mounted on the building structure tomove between a forward vertical closed posit-ion and a rearward overheadopen position; a dashpot ycylinder iixedly mounted in upright p0,-sition on the inner face of said door; 'fa piston assembly including yapiston slidably mounted in said cylinder and Ia piston rod`extending'ujgxward from :the cylinder for movement towards the upperend of the door; spring means connecting the lower end of said pistonassembly to the `door to sto-re energy .to retract the piston assemblywhen the door is in its closed position; a iirst cable-like memberconnected in its opposite ends to the building structure and `extendingin the ygeneral direction of the path of movement of the upper end ofthe door; means movably mounted on said first cable-like member; asecond cable-like member having one of its ends connected to saidmovably mounted means `and having its other end connected to said pistonrod, said first and second cable means being dimensioned to be pulledtaut for actuation of said piston rod as the door approaches its limitopen position.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. A CLOSURE ASSEMBLY FOR A DOORWAY OF A BUILDING STRUCTURE, COMPRISING:A DOOR FOR SAID DOORWAY MOUNTED ON THE BUILDING STRUCTURE TO MOVEBETWEEN A CLOSED POSITION AND AN OPEN POSITION; SPRING MEANS CONNECTINGSAID DOOR AND THE STRUCTURE OF THE BUILDING TO URGE THE DOOR FROM ITSCLOSED POSITION TO ITS OPEN POSITION; ENERGY-ABSORBING MEANS MOUNTED ONSAID DOOR; A FIRST CABLE-LIKE MEMBER ANCHORED AT ITS OPPOSITE ENDS TOSPACED POINTS ON THE BUILDING STRUCTURE; AND A SECOND CABLE-LIKE MEMBERCONNECTED AT ONE OF ITS ENDS TO THE ENERGY-ABSORBING MEANS AND SLIDINGLYCONNECTED AT ITS OTHER END TO THE FIRST CABLE-LIKE MEMBER, WHEREBY SAIDONE END OF SAID SECOND CABLE-LIKE MEMBER MOVES ALONG SAID FIRSTCABLELIKE MEMBER DURING AN INITIAL MAJOR PORTION OF THE DOOR OPENINGMOVEMENT AND BOTH OF THE CABLE-LIKE MEMBERS ARE PULLED TAUT AS THE DOORAPPROACHES ITS LIMIT OPEN POSITION WITH CONSEQUENT OPERATION OF SAIDENERGY-ABSORBING MEANS TO DECELERATE THE DOOR.